The Chinese Music and Cultural Centre was inaugurated at ELTE
The guests were welcomed by Gong Tao, Ambassador of China to Hungary, and Imre Hamar, Vice-Rector for International Affairs of ELTE, both of whom described the opening of the centre as an important milestone. The Ambassador praised the role of Eötvös Loránd University in advancing Chinese-Hungarian scientific and cultural relations and thanked Rector László Borhy and Imre Hamar for their work in this field.
In his speech, the Rector of ELTE recalled that the Chinese Department of ELTE celebrated its 100th anniversary last November, and in mid-June this year, the China-Hungary Joint Research Centre for Exchanges and Mutual Learning between Civilizations was opened by ELTE and the Beijing based Renmin University.
László Borhy also pointed out that thanks to the cooperation between the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music and the ELTE Department of Music, which has been ongoing since 2021, more and more Chinese students are coming to Hungary to study at ELTE for a semester, where, in addition to high-quality education, they can gain an insight into European culture, try out what it is like to become independent as a young adult abroad, travel and learn English at an even higher level.
Professor Wang Rui, President of Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, said in his speech that ELTE is a world-renowned, high-quality university that has produced many world-renowned scholars and art professionals, including 6 Nobel Prize winners, and alumni including music teacher and composer Zoltán Kodály. He described his own institution as a university with an open education policy and extensive international connections, and as the centre of the China-Central Europe Music Academy Association. The joint master's degree programme in music between the two universities has been approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education and has already started admitting students, he added.
In practice, the joint training programme will start in Hangzhou in September 2024, and one year later the first MA students from the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music will arrive at ELTE, said Gábor Bodnár, Director of the Institute of Arts Communication and Music at ELTE, who recalled that guest students from the conservatory had already arrived at ELTE in the framework of a mobility programme prior to the launch of the joint master's programme. Gábor Bodnár gave an overview of the subjects taught and outlined the musical and cultural opportunities for Chinese students at ELTE.
The ceremony was also attended by Ye Qiuyue, Associate Professor, in charge of ELTE's Chinese relations, Orsolya Réthelyi, Vice Dean for International Affairs at ELTE Faculty of Humanities, Sun Jie, Cultural Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy, Jin Hao, Director of the Chinese Cultural Centre in Budapest, Zhu Dan, Deputy Director of the Bank of China in Hungary and Wang Xuejun, Managing Director of China Railway Hungary Ltd.
The ceremony concluded with a selection of Hungarian folk songs performed by the Choir of the Institute of Arts Communication and Music conducted by Ákos Erdős, and students and teachers from the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music played traditional Chinese stringed instruments, erhu and ghuzeng, accompanied by Chen Yu on piano.